Food! - early March

Before I came, everyone raved about the food in Yemen. Well, I have found some delicious bread, and love the chicken aqda (if I remember the name of the dish correctly). However, I always miss green veggies when I’m travelling and have found a bit of a shortage of them here. I wish I were into seafood cause there is some incredible looking grilled fish here. Honestly though, I’m not in the best position to comment on the diverse offerings of Yemeni cuisine. Because of work, and our living arrangements, I have found the whole food situation to be a bit depressing at times. On the plus side, I’ve gotten to enjoy quite a bit of peanut butter and jelly and ramen, on the minus, many days have gone by where that was all. Our house sometimes feels a bit like a bad fraternity with calories being really the only goal. I’m glad we’ve made a few exceptions and gotten out some. We did make it to the most popular restaurant for Yemenis as well as the best restaurant for traditional dishes which happens to be the landmark we use to get home since it seems everyone knows where Al Fakher is located (and it is fun to say). John and Shadrach became real fans of Hot and Crispy which is a Yemeni version of fast food. It even had a playground with a ballpit that John jumped into. I didn’t get to check out the new fried chicken place that is apparently owned by Saudis, but it is hard to resist a fast food place with trampolines outside! Ok, one more funny fast food story, there is a Pizza Hut and KFC here; however, the word on the street is their hygiene practices are lacking. So much so that Pepsico tried to close the franchises and quit receiving their checks. The owners happily mail them in each month and get them back in the mail and continue to serve perhaps substandard chicken and pizzas underneath the famous logos.